Russian court fines Google $20 decillion: more money than there is on the planet

The lawsuit dates back to 2020, when YouTube banned, among other things, the ultranationalist Russian channel Tsargrad as a result of the sanctions that the US had imposed on the owners of the channels. They went to court in Moscow and were proven right. Google had to lift the ban, it was decided, or it would have to pay a sum of money that would increase by $1,000 per day and double every other week.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many other similar channels were denied access, such as Sputnik and Zvezda, also because sanctions were imposed on their owners. Those owners joined the ongoing lawsuit, which now involves a total of 17 Russian media companies. The total amount that Google owes those companies according to the courts has already risen to 20 decillion dollars, an amount with no fewer than 60 zeros and more money than exists on the planet.

The chance that Google will ever feel obliged to pay that amount seems extremely small. But according to news agency Bloomberg Russian companies do not simply accept this. They file cases worldwide – most recently in South Africa – in the hope of having Google’s assets seized in those countries. That’s a cunning course of action, he said Bloombergbecause by also ignoring a judgment from courts in other countries, the recognition of legal systems worldwide risks coming under pressure. However, for the time being it does not seem to have come to that.